Dallin turned four years old on Thursday, May 18, 2017. We had a really fun time enjoying and celebrating him!
We spent a few days prior to his birthday working on his birthday service. He decided to make bracelets for all his friends at school. We used piped wire and beads, and we focused on making patterns with the beads.
Dallin mastered AB patterns with this project. Dallin would sit and review his pattern before every single bead he put on- “orange, yewoah, orange, yewoah…” And then he would check his work after every bead that he put on- “Orange, yewoah, orange, yewoah, orange…now I need yewoah!” It took him a long time to make each bracelet, but it was really neat to see him work so hard on them, and to hear him thinking out loud about each friend and what colors they would like. Tanner and I helped with the project. We took the bracelets to school on his birthday and Dallin was really happy to help pass them out and let his friends choose the colors they liked best.
We made a lot of bracelets!
This year, his birthday fell on a Thursday. I didn’t have any meetings after teaching at the Kindergarten center, so I was able to pick Dallin up from daycare sooner than normal. We went on a spontaneous date to the public library where we read books for an hour before picking up Tanner from school!
That night, Jeremy got home late because he was in Minneapolis for work and I had a class to teach, so we opened presents right before bed.
Seeing Tanner experience Dallin’s birthday was sure something!
The night before, Tanner cried and cried. “I’m not ready for Dallin to be 4!! I want him to stay 3 forever!” Jeremy and I weren’t expecting that, but we were really pleased to see Tanner showing so much love and concern for his little brother.
Tanner spent at least a week on making an epic birthday card for his brother. He wanted it to be the best. When we wrapped presents, Tanner was concerned that DJ didn’t have enough presents. I assured Tanner that Dallin would have enough and reminded him that birthdays are not all about getting presents. When it was time for the gifts, Dallin opened his present/card from Tanner before Tanner was ready. There was a certain way T wanted to give the present to Dallin, and so he cried and cried because the special moment was ruined! We were able to calm him down after awhile and Tanner finally decided he could try showing Dallin the present again. Dallin loved it.
Then, in one of Dallin’s gifts was a card for Tanner. T was so excited. He opened it carefully and said “I like to open it slowly so that it won’t rip.” Dallin got excited and said “Hey let me see!” and as he grabbed for it, the card ripped in half, and Tanner had the biggest look of shock on his face. He just stared frozen for a good 10 seconds, and then he bawled his head off! Dallin kept saying “sorry, sorry, sorry,” like a robot while I tried to comfort Tanner. Jeremy got all of it on video. It was so hard not to laugh out loud in front of the boys, because the whole situation was just hilarous. After the boys were asleep, we watched the video and let out the laughs. It is so funny how intense Tanner can feel things! He and I are very much alike, which is one of many reasons I try to keep birthdays simple, otherwise we have too many emotions to deal with.
On Saturday, we went to Walmart and used gift card money to buy Dallin a new bike! He rode the bike right out of the store. I have a feeling that Dallin will learn how to ride a two wheeler this summer on this bike.
That evening, we went to Applebee’s for the birthday dinner. We had a fun conversation talking about all the things Dallin learned and did this past year. A few of them included: getting potty trained, starting daycare/preschool, learning how to write his name, speaking more and more, graduating from nursery class at church, getting completely weened off of his pacifier, learning how to count up to 30, recognizing all the letters of the alphabet and identifying most of their sounds, learning how to pump himself on a swing, and so much more! It was a big growing year for him. Also, during the past year, he visited and traveled through more than 10 states, including UT, DC, CA, and TX. Another fun fact is that he still takes naps on a regular basis, of which I am very grateful!
I don’t think he wanted me to take this picture. I love his mad face because he often will forget that he is mad, and then he will stop and think about looking mad again. Lol.
When we got home, we had cake! Jeremy, Tanner and I spent a lot of time making it and we were really happy with how it turned out. Yes, we had to put it on a tote lid because we couldn’t find anything at home or at the stores big enough to hold the cake. We used dinosaur toys and extra cake scraps to add more detail to the scene.
Dallin loved it.
When I asked Dallin what kind of faces we should make for the cake pictures, he said “SILLY FACES!” That’s my Dallin!
Dinosaur faces! I love how Dallin looks at me first. He often looks at his neighbors in pictures to see what faces they are making.
Happy faces! Looking at Tanner for a que.
Our little Dal Pal!
Dallin was SO happy to have 4 balloons!
Choosing what part of the cake to eat.
Then, we had a dance party, where we danced to punk music and dinosaur songs.
My little Love Bug has been such a blessing in our lives! Just like his great grandpa Jerold Robertson, Dallin Jerold seems to really enjoy making others laugh. He is always trying to crack jokes, which he gets better telling each month. He never takes anything too seriously, which is a big blessing in our home. He can sense when I’m stressed or when people are feeling down, and he will do a goofy dance or sing a silly song in an effort to make us laugh! Dallin loves singing, climbing, and reading stories. He also loves dancing, especially when we do family dance parties.
Dallin is usually really easy going and gets along well with everyone at church and school. One thing he said for awhile was “I’m okay with that!” to almost every situation. His teachers say that he is always following directions, helping the teacher, and playing nicely alone and with others. The only times he becomes difficult to please is when he is very, very tired. I’m often impressed with how well he behaves even after being so tired.
DJ is super independent. He will often get himself food and drink instead of complaining about being hungry. He prefers to do things himself like getting dressed or brushing teeth, and he won’t ask for help until he has reached a certain point of frustration or he doesn’t know how to do it by himself.
Dallin has a nack for navigating screens and phones. The sly little guy will figure out a way to get on a device to play games or watch shows, and he will bug you forever about watching a show, and is highly motivated to do things if TV is the reward.
He is good at taking risks. He isn’t afraid to try new things whether it’s on the computer or outdoors. He will scale up and down the climbing tree and jump off high places. I think if we didn’t have Cautious Tanner as his big brother, Dallin would get into a lot more trouble. Tanner is really good at reigning Dallin in when needed. And Dallin is good at encouraging Tanner to try new things. Their personalities compliment each other so perfectly!
I’m pretty sure that Dallin’s main Languages of Love are physcial touch and acts of service. My little Cuddle Bug still needs to have his “cuddle wuddle” each night, where he proceeds to stroke the mole on my face, “I need to touch your mole, Mom.” He loves poking, patting, and climbing on people. And he loves helping people. He is the first to jump up when I ask for help with dinner or any kind of chore, including the yucky ones. He likes helping Jeremy, too. Sometimes he just does chores without me asking, like putting away all the trash from a family activity or sweeping up his own messes!
Some days, I look at Dallin and think he is so grown up, and I get sad about time being so fleeting. Other times I look at him and think wow, he is still SO little and needs me so much (the skinny tummy and gangly legs certainly make him seem small). I’m so glad that we’ve had this precious person to call our own for four whole years!!
